Two Kinds of Wars for Morality

By Rabbi Dovid Eidensohn

There are today two kinds of wars for morality. One is the great battles between biblical people with those who are immoral. The other great battle is even more serious, the battle in the Torah world between those who know that the Torah demands that we fight immorality, and those who claim to be Torah Jews who oppose battling immorality, as incredible as this sounds.

Years ago, senior older rabbis told me that we must fight immorality. I then called up the two senior Rosh Yeshivas in Agudas Israel of America, and asked them to help with the battle against immorality, the fight against a burgeoning gay rights campaign. They both answered the same way, “We are against hate. It is forbidden to fight gays.”  Recently, somebody who is known as an expert on what goes on in the Agudah told me that senior Agudah members have accepted the obligation to support gay rights. Yes, this is the Chofetz Chaim’s Agudah, now in America, and now treifeh.

            At Mincha of Yom Kippur we read from Vayikro 18:1 a lengthy warning about the evils of sexual sins. It would seem that to do this on the holy day itself, at Mincha, is a strange thing. Who on Yom Kippur is the slightest bit interested in the hideous abominations described there? But, unfortunately, this question is answered by a gemora in Yuma and a gemora in Megilah. The gemora in Yuma 19b tells us that the Cohen Gadol did not sleep during the night of Yom Kippur for fear he may become tomay and invalid to do the avodah of the holy day. In order to make sure that he stayed awake the city came out of their houses and would talk loudly so he would hear and stay awake. “Abo Shaul said that even with no Beis HaMikdosh people continued to walk at night and make noise to remember the Beis HaMikdosh but they sinned. [It seems that when the Temple was there and the Cohen Gadol had to be prevented from sleeping people walked around talking loudly to keep the Cohen Gadol awake and there were no sins. But when there was no Temple and people stayed up at night simply to imitate the actions of the Temple period, people did sin. The gemora continues.]

“Abayeh, and some say Reb Nachman be Yitschok said in the name of Nehardo, that Eliyohu spoke to Rav Yehuda, the brother of Rav Salo Chasido, ‘You ask why Moshiach did not come? But today is Yom Kippur and many virgins sinned with men in Nehardo.’ Rav Yehuda asked Eliyohu, ‘What does HaShem say about this?’ Eliyohu replied, ‘Sin waits at the door.’”

The gemora in Megilah 31A says that on Yom Kippur we read the section of the Torah about the sin of sexual sins in Vayikro 18:1. But why? Rashi explains, “So that whoever has sinned with arayose will cease sinning, because aroyose is a common sin that a person desires to do it and his evil inclination entices him.” Note that Rashi writes two things about arayose: One that a person desires to do it, on his own, by his own biological forces he is pressured to sin with arayose, and besides that, Rashi adds, “and his evil inclination entices him.” This is double trouble, and even Yom Kippur requires a Torah reading warning people about sinning. When we recall the above gemora in Yuma how many people sinned on Yom Kippur with arayose, we see how powerful the evil inclination and peoples’ desires are to bring people, even on the holy day, to great sins.

Interestingly enough, Rashi does not mention the gemora in Yuma how many women were ruined by sin. Perhaps after that period of sin people realized that walking around at night was a formula for disaster and ceased doing it. But we continue reading about arayose for the reasons Rashi mentions, because today we no longer stay up all night and allow the worst sins to happen on Yom Kippur.

Tosfose there in Megilah says another idea, that because women dress nicely for Yom Kippur there is a problem of Arayase. Even though the problem is probably not as bad as what the gemora says in Yuma before, even on Yom Kippur, the sight of a well-dressed woman is a problem. Maybe on Yom Kippur it is better not to leave the house and go to shull. But we have to go to shull, and we then have to hear the reading of the Torah to warn us against evil thoughts. Let us hope that it works.